JONESBORO -- The parents waited in the rocky parking lot while a black sedan pulled in, its tires crunching in the gravel as it parked in front of Magnolia Road Baptist Church in northern Jonesboro.
Their delivery had arrived.
The driver's door opened, and a young man stepped into the December morning, his short, dark curls and goatee bristling in the breeze.
He opened the trunk and pulled out a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles scooter, coloring books and Barbie dolls.
It was four days before Christmas, and Blaise Taylor was making the final delivery of more than 120 presents to nearly 40 families with at-risk youth -- children who, without the aid of the Arkansas State University cornerback, would have an empty space under the Christmas tree, if there was a Christmas tree at all.